Share this:

Mae Ryan/KPCC

South Central Family Health Center, pictured above, is currently in the process of applying for certification as a patient-centered medical home.

People who don't have a consistent medical provider – a "medical home" – appear to be less likely to receive regular preventive care, according to a new health policy brief from UCLA.

In their report, researchers said a medical home – also referred to as a "patient-centered medical home" – is a place where:

A patient sees a regular doctor over an extended period of time, rather than jumping from doctor to doctor.

This regular doctor creates a personalized treatment plan for the patient.

The doctor coordinates the patient's care.

Mary Valencia, the quality improvement coordinator at South Central Family Health Center, said medical homes are "not the norm" in South Los Angeles. That, she added, often presents logistical problems – ones that can lead to poor health.

"What happens is there's not much coordinated care," she explained. "We have a very transient population. They often move, phone numbers are disconnected, they have a lot of domestic violence issues, a lot of immigration issues."

Share this:

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

A new ad campaign from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that smokers are more than twice as likely to quit when they've talked to a health provider about it.

A new government campaign is encouraging smokers to get their doctors involved in their efforts to quit, noting that even "brief advice" from a health provider "significantly increases" the odds of successfully kicking the habit.

The Talk With Your Doctor campaign, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is hoping to continue that trend of decline by encouraging smokers to enlist their doctors and other health providers as a means of support, emphasizing that it "more than doubles the odds" that smokers will successfully quit.

Share this:

Carsten Koall/Getty Images

For South L.A. patients, the transition between hospital-based care and follow-up services in a primary care setting can be difficult. Around early July, a new program from the Southside Coalition of Community Health Clinics will attempt to smooth out that transition.

A new program will attempt to help bridge the gap between primary and hospital care for South Los Angeles patients, who all too often "get lost in the system."

That's according to Nina Vaccaro, the executive director of the Southside Coalition of Community Health Centers. The group, which is comprised of eight federally-qualified health centers in South L.A., is developing a program that would place two "care coordinators" at St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood. The goal is to help area patients navigate the often-confusing transition between hospital-based care and primary care to get the follow-up services they need.

The eight member clinics of the Southside Coalition of Community Health Centers (in blue) and St. Francis Medical Center (in red).

Vaccaro said there's currently a "big, gaping hole" where that transition should be.

Listen Now

José Martinez/KPCC

Grant Slater/KPCC

We asked Angelenos where they go for peace and quiet. Bill Adkins says: "We have a home in the Big Bear area and spend a lot of time up there."

Hal Summers

We asked Angelenos where they go for peace and quiet. Hal Summers says he goes to Yosemite National Park to get away.

al.hermann/Flickr Creative Commons

We asked Angelenos where they go for peace and quiet. Jami Boothe says she goes to various canyons along the south side of the San Gabriels for some quiet time.

scmtngirl/Flickr Creative Commons

We asked Angelenos where they go for peace and quiet. Laura Kinney says she escapes to the beach. This photo is of Catalina Island.

Geri Lavrov/Getty Images

We asked Angelenos where they go for peace and quiet. Jim Gosline says he goes to Lake Tahoe, Nevada.

Ashley Bailey/KPCC

We asked Angelenos where they go for peace and quiet. Rachel Grech Nowinski says she goes horseback riding through Palos Verdes or sailing out of King Harbor.

Hal Summers

We asked Angelenos where they go for peace and quiet. Hal Summers said he goes to the Santa Rosa Mountains near Palm Desert.

Latiffe Amado

We asked Angelenos where they go for peace and quiet. Latiffe Amado, a teacher at Alliance Environmental Science and Technology High School, says he visits the Channel Islands to get away. Pictured is the Starlight Beach in Catalina Island, the last stop on the Trans Catalina Trail, Mile No. 37.

Latiffe Amado

We asked Angelenos where they go for peace and quiet. Latiffe Armando, an area teacher, named the Alabama Hills in Inyo County, California.

Click on the map & share how you escape from the city.

Makadu Labeet is a towering 56-year-old Gardena resident who originally hails from the Virgin Islands.

Every other day, he arrives at Vermont Square Community Garden in South Los Angeles around 7:30 a.m. and begins his work as the land's "unofficial caretaker."

Overall, the garden is in good shape, although some plots could use a little more tending. But for Labeet, this is much more than a garden. He calls it a "sacred ground" – one that offers refuge from the chaos just beyond its gates.

"We don't have problems in here," he said. "It's like, out there in the world, people be cussing and fighting going by, and they don't even know you're here."

That "cussing and fighting" is part of the reason it's so hard to find tranquility in South L.A.: It's loud. The noise of buses leaving their stops, music blaring from cramped storefronts, territorial dogs barking, angry motorists honking – it all comes together to create a headache-inducing cacophony. Those who can't remove themselves from that every once in a while can face serious quality of life issues – which is part of the reason why Labeet so enjoys his time in Vermont Square.

Listen Now

Listen Now

L.A. County Department of Public Health

The winning design for the official L.A. condom contest. These condoms made their debut at the Long Beach pride festival last weekend.

L.A. County Department of Public Health

The Condom Mobile. It may be coming soon to a festival near you, handing out free condoms as part of the L.A. County Department of Public Health's effort to encourage safe sex.

L.A. County Department of Public Health

Other finalists from the condom design contest were distributed last week at the Long Beach Pride festival.

There's a new condom in town and it's dressed up for its Los Angeles-debut — in a bow tie.

It also has the line "suit up," and is part of an effort by the L.A. County Department of Public Health to stop the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.

This condom design was selected last year from 500 entries, as part of a competition launched by the health department. And what better way to distribute the condoms than in a 40-foot-Condom Mobile, which made its grand debut last weekend at Long Beach Pride.

The RV is covered in images of shirtless, athletic-looking men with the slogan "Game on. Suit up L.A." written underneath them. With the help of the Lambda Basketball League and the L.A. Condom street team, more than 8,000 L.A. condoms were distributed over the course of two days.